Synonyms of sleuths

sleuths

noun

plural of sleuth

as in detectives

a person not on the police force who investigates criminal or illicit activity or searches for missing persons

the popular TV sleuth lives a much more action-packed life than do his real-world counterparts

Synonyms & Similar Words

• detectives
• investigators
• operatives
• gumshoes
• private investigators
• dicks
• private detectives
• sleuthhounds
• private eyes
• sherlocks
• trackers
• shadows
• hawkshaws
• tracers
• shamuses
• feds
• plainclothesmen
• tails
• narcs
• G-men
• Federals

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of sleuths

Entertainment industry deaths Internet would-be sleuths have popped up in Zach’s Hickerson’s comments on social media this week. — Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 23 Aug. 2026

Internet sleuths, predictably, have seized on this ambiguity as proof of malfeasance. — Jessica Winter, New Yorker, 22 Aug. 2026

Tips have poured in from as far away as Kansas, with internet sleuths and true crime influencers tracking every theory. — Eileen Murphy, ABC News, 11 Aug. 2026

Fans started to act as super sleuths, investigating Inviz’s actions and trying to track down Gerasimov. — Kyle MacNeill, Rolling Stone, 6 Aug. 2026

Even if Rodri's cleats added an extra inch or two, online sleuths point to other comparisons, including with Prince William who met with the president in 2024. — Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 21 July 2026

So when things go badly inside the opaque world of many private schools, it can be left to parents, police, journalists and amateur sleuths to find and expose wrongdoing. — Jennifer Smith Richards, ProPublica, 16 July 2026

While Freddy was in Boston mourning Germany’s defeat, online sleuths excavated the least-savory tidbits from his X posting history. — Will Oremus, The Atlantic, 1 July 2026

Groups of amateur sleuths also cropped up in the hollows of tragedy to wrestle with the case and analyze rumors swarming the Horman family in online forums, echoing a familiar pattern of behavior on the internet in the face of long-unsolved criminal cases. — Danya Gainor, CNN Money, 23 June 2026